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The Conservative government of British Prime Minister Theresa May overturned a ban Thursday on hydraulic fracturing – commonly known as "fracking" – and will give the go-ahead to the costly, environmentally dangerous extractive process from four gas wells in North Yorkshire.
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The decision by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid reversed the ban by the Lancashire County Council on the grounds of “national importance.” Javid said the industry could create as many as 64,000 jobs and boost economic growth while cutting the U.K.'s reliance on gas from the Middle East.
Environmental activists took to social media Thursday to write that May is doubling down on David Cameron's "all-out" fracking policies, despite concerns about the environmental sustainability of fossil fuel exploration.
Javid's decision was made the same day that a leading British economist, Lord Nicholas Stern, warned that attempts to boost economic growth with a high-carbon strategy would "self-destruct."
While energy and oil advocates claim that gas from fracking helps cut greenhouse gases related to coal production, environmental activists say that emerging developments in the renewable energy industry offsets the need for oil and gas excavation.
“The decisions follow extensive consideration of all the evidence, including an independent planning inspector’s report and evidence submitted during a two-week public inquiry,” Javid said. “Shale gas has the potential to power economic growth, support 64,000 jobs, and provide a new domestic energy source, making us less reliant on imports."
Friends of the Earth northwest campaigner Helen Rimmer said: “This is bad news for Lancashire – the community have been fighting fracking for more than five years. This fight continues until this unproven and unpopular industry disappears for good.”
“Instead of shoving us down a dangerous path that inevitably leads to climate change, the Government should invest in renewables and energy efficiency, an emerging industry that could create 24,000 jobs in the north west alone,” she continued.
Lancashire County Council had voted against the fracking project last June in the wake of more than 18,000 objections.
However, the company behind the project, Cuadrilla, appealed directly to the government.
Francis Egan, the company's chief executive, said: “We are very pleased that we can now move ahead with our shale gas exploration plans which will start to create new economic growth opportunities and jobs for people in Lancashire and the U.K.”
"As a Lancashire business, we are proud that the county will play such a vital role in securing vitally needed, home-sourced energy,” he added.
However, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Energy and Climate Lynne Featherstone said the decision "sets a very dangerous precedent."
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“Fracking poses a huge risk to our countryside, environment and efforts to tackle climate change, we must continue to fight it at every turn," she said. “At a time when the rest of the world is moving towards low carbon, this Conservative government is taking us in completely the wrong direction.”
Greenpeace campaigner Hannah Martin also raised alarms, saying that the decision raises questions about the U.K. government's commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
“This fudged decision shows the Government is struggling to force fracking on a reluctant nation," she said. "Fracking will put our countryside and air quality at risk. Digging up more fossil fuels that we can’t burn if we are to honor the international agreement we signed in Paris and is coming into force next month makes little economic or environmental sense.”
“Theresa May cannot build a 21st-century industrial strategy on a polluting and inexperienced fracking sector that won’t deliver for years, if ever,” she added. "If the Prime Minister wants to promote an affordable and fair energy system whilst bolstering business growth and job creation, renewable and smart energy technologies are the way to go.”
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